Vermont Racial Justice Alliance

At "What Equity Looks like in Burlington" the State Commissioner of Human Resources told us about the hiring of the State Executive Director of Racial Equity. Over 80 folks turned out and struggled with tough questions like How do WE address equity in Burlington? What are the three most important things that WE can do? What should WE do NEXT?

We came back to discuss what WE came up with and what WE can do next. We have got to move this equity discussion to action. This is where it starts. This time we're orienting ourselves to action on community matters of equity, diversity and inclusion.

The struggle for voting rights; the struggle for gender rights; the struggle for climate justice; the struggle for LGBTQIA rights; the struggle against global warming; the struggle for the rights of those who are indigenous; the struggle for fair wages; the struggle for the rights of the disabled; the struggle against the war economy; the struggle against poverty; the struggle to protect our children; the struggle for clean water; the struggle for health care; the struggle against systemic racism and more are all connected. Poverty is manufactured and wealth has been created and is sustained through the oppression of these categories. We are at our best when we break through the barriers created to divide us and to perpetuate the power of the one percent. We stand in agreement that race and racism was designated as a tool to create and sustain unchecked capitalism as the bedrock of a greedy colonial white nation. We're here to change that.

The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance addresses racial justice in Vermont with the use of their collective strengths and voices to implement policy that positively impacts Vermont by addressing systems and processes that surround the institutionalized as well as overt discriminatory components of racism in Vermont.

Our Vermont Racial Justice Alliance People of Color Steering Committee agrees that it's time to build power behind our legislative agenda. It's time to change Vermont.

This session teaches you the components of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance #ChangeVermont Legislative Agenda and equips you to take action. Special emphasis is placed on the case for amending the constitution.

This is a forum to hear from the community on matters of equity, diversity and inclusion.

There is lots of talk from elected officials about the necessity for Vermont to grow its economy. It can only do so with a dramatic change of the racial demographics of the State. We all know that this will not be sustainable until we address factors contributing to the systemic nature of racism in the State. The population and race demographics of Burlington scream the fact that “as goes Burlington, so goes Vermont." This is a community conversation about that.

Who are we, as a City? Who do we hope to become? How will we get there?

This strategic session gives an opportunity to wrestle with some of these questions and discuss solutions.

Featured Story

The proposed rules would allow cable companies to assign market values to these benefits and then charge the amount back to local communities in most cases. Benefits include items like free cable subscriptions to schools, discounts for the elderly, and fiber connectivity to local government buildings like police departments, fire stations, and libraries.